Shirley officials consider energy-saving upgrades

SHIRLEY -- A Woburn consulting firm working with the Shirley Energy Committee is projecting the town could save more than $100,000 if it makes what it deems necessary energy upgrades to all town-owned buildings.

ABM Building Solutions responded to a request for proposals put out by the committee months ago, and ABM workers spent three weeks in all town-owned buildings, including the schools.

The Energy Committee will meet again with ABM next month to see the final plan and make its recommendation on whether the members can support the upgrades.

"This is what they call the preliminary audit," Energy Committee Chairman Brian Dumont said. "Those numbers will eventually be refined either downwards or upwards, depending on the level of services we want."

Many of the improvements ABM is recommending fixing include putting motion sensors on all light fixtures in every town building and office, putting window coverings on some of the older buildings, and converting boilers from oil to natural gas.

Some of the suggestions would not be feasible for the town to even consider, Dumont said.

"For example, in the Center Town Hall, there isn't anything we can do in there. Anything we did in there would probably cost us money. I'm thinking Benjamin Hill probably won't be involved either," he said. "(Former Selectman) Andy Deveau, who built it, said it's about as efficient as you can get. The payback we would see would take so long for us to see.

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The most frustrating recommendation, Dumont said, was realizing the town would have to spend a substantial amount of money to insulate the roof of the Town Hall.

When it was built, he said, the space between the ceiling and the roof was never insulated, and the building is losing heat through the roof rapidly.

"Knowing it should have been done all those years ago, and it wasn't, is disappointing. We should never have been put in this place to begin with," he said. "The reason that price tag is so high is because they failed to adequately insulate it, so it'll take a lot more labor."

That labor includes taking down portions of the ceiling to blow insulation into the area.

Dumont said he's pleased with the way things are progressing, and is hopeful the report ABM prepares will be ready to present at Town Meeting to get financial support from voters to spend the money on necessary upgrades.

"I think it was very productive," he said. "I think there's a lot of opportunity for the town to save a lot of money long-term."

There was some apprehension during Thursday's meeting from Superintendent of Schools Carl Mock, who said he was hesitant about some of the more costly upgrades and whether they would pay off financially in the end.

The School Department is in the process of working with the Massachusetts School Building Authority to renovate the high school, and there may be work in the future done to other schools, including possibly shifting students around and closing Lura A. White School in Shirley.

He said he was apprehensive about spending thousands of dollars on upgrades at Lura A. White, including converting the school's boiler to natural gas, especially if the school were to close in a couple of years.

"I'm not convinced the payback is there," he said.

Members of the Energy Committee, in conjunction with its energy consultant, plan to make a formal presentation to brief the entire committee on the proposal.

Dumont said he's excited about the prospect of working with the school district.

"I'm hopeful the school will participate so they can save money, which would help save the town a lot of money," Dumont said.

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